Sunday, April 12, 2009

This past Friday night I went with the local scout trip on an overnight campout. The topic was Wilderness Survival - so we were supposed to build shelter (no tents).

We left in a rainstorm. We drove in a rainstorm. We set up camp in a rainstorm. It rained until midnight. After that, it was beautiful. The coldest it got was about 40 degrees.

Just a couple of observations... and none will be earth shattering.

You need gear to stay dry. Three scouts ended up sleeping in a car. Their stuff got wet - they were done.

You can get by on very little. One scout slept under a tarp and in a couple layers of Under Armour and some trash bags. He did OK.

My setup was a blue tarp, bivy bag, and sleeping bag, on the ground. I was dry.

As far as clothing... I had a long Gore-Tex jacket. I was fine from head to knees. Below that, I was OK because it wasn't colder. What I'd really like to have is a good hat with a brim, a long duster type jacket, and some waterproof shoes/boots. With that and a good pair of gloves, I could spend a long time in wet 20 - 40 degree weather and be OK - I think.

The next day, under blue sky, we did orienteering, signaling (you'd be amazed how well a 2" - 3" mirror will signal at 1/2 mile), fire starting, and the like.

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

Brigham Young said the following: “Will the Constitution be destroyed? No; it will be held inviolate by this people; and, as Joseph Smith said, ‘The time will come when the Constitution of this nation will hang upon a single thread. At that critical juncture, this people will step forth and save it from the threatened destruction.’ It will be so.” (July 4, 1854, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 7, p. 15)

As I’ve become more “aware” (maybe “awake”) over the past dozen years or so, I’ve reflected on this statement. Recently, within the past couple of weeks, I’ve come to a troubling conclusion. I’d like to share some of the key steps in this journey.

First, the current and past few US presidents have had little, if any, regard for the Constitution. First, my ‘awareness’ really flourished during the reign of Bush the Lesser. He launched wars in Iraq and Afghanistan without Congressional approval – a Constitutional requirement for waging war. He stamped on many other Constitutional safeguards. Perhaps the most troubling was his establishment of his own Praetorian Guard. US Army troops are now assigned to operate within the bounds of these United States (stationed in my backyard at Ft. Knox, KY). The list goes on and on of how Bush trampled the Constitution. I don’t need or want to go through the awful details here.

Bush’s successor, Obama the Beneficent has, in his disregard for the Constitution, put his predecessor to shame. General Motors has become Government Motors and Obama the Omniscient has determined that Mr. Wagoner is not the man to lead GM. I don’t see where the Constitution grants to the Executive Branch the authority to do this! Perhaps the most (and it’s stiff competition) insidious recent event (i.e., of these first 100 days) is the passage of the GIVE act. This act, co-sponsored by our very own Hatch the Giving, is, certainly not the first, but a huge step toward enslavement.

Just a quick note. Why, you may be asking, all the “Obama the Beneficent” type references? It’s an oblique reference to Alexis de Tocqueville’s essay, “What sort of despotism democratic nations have to fear.” It’s not too long. Google it and have a read. See if you don’t find him a prophet of sorts. But I digress…

Back to the first point. Really, it’s this. I think the Constitution is hanging by a thread. Now. Already. Right now. There’s just a thread. The Executive branch is doing whatever it wants and it has the pieces in place to cut any remaining threads at the next ‘crisis.’

You might not be there with me on this one. You might argue that there are a couple of threads. We still have free speech and the right to bear arms. OK. I’ll grant you that. However, if they can be removed at the next crisis (when you’d really need them), do you really have them?

So, for the sake of the rest of my argument, go with me for a minute that the Constitution is hanging by a thread right now.

All this happened while we (the LDS people) had well-placed government officials “on the watchtower” (so to speak). These are people who could have warned us, perhaps by providing additional information to the obvious things we can see by reading the published reports. The senator from Nevada, Hatch the Giving, and several others. They could have been sounding the warning bell – and even fighting for the Constitution. But, they have not. They have contributed to the Constitution’s downfall (perhaps the one point of promise is Chaffetz the Frugal (rumor has it he’s concerned enough about prudent use of taxpayer funds that he sleeps in his office to cut down on costs)). They voted for and promoted (Reid) the robberies (er, “Bailouts.” Note it isn’t ‘theft,’ that’s what happens when you aren’t watching. Robbery is when it’s done by force – and this was certainly done by force) and the enslavement (Hatch’s GIVE act).

I could go on here as well. However, the point is that our best placed Constitution defenders are taking it down, not rescuing it.

To review: The Constitution is hanging by a thread. The people we’d hope to be working on saving it aren’t.

Then last week I started thinking – and here’s the conclusion. The federal government isn’t going to give up its power. The only way ‘this people’ will save the Constitution is by force – by revolution. I remember reading this statement by LDS Church president Ezra Benson, “To all who have discerning eyes, it is apparent that the republican form of government established by our noble forefathers cannot long endure once fundamental principles are abandoned. Momentum is gathering for another conflict—a repetition of the crisis of two hundred years ago.” (The Constitution: A Heavenly Banner. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1986, p. 27)

Obama the Beneficent will not heed a call to return to Constitutional principles. Nor will his successor, even if it is Mitt the Merciful. By the time Obama is finished, we’ll have the US version of the Hitler Youth in place (again, see the recently passed GIVE act) as well as, it is certain, a host of other acts in place limiting our 1st, 2nd, (continue the series all the way to 10) amendment freedoms.

I’m not sure who will be behind the revolution. I suspect members of the LDS Church may expect that Church leaders would lead the charge. Maybe. Maybe not. Consider this from Ezra Benson, “Maybe the Lord will never set up a specific Church program for the purpose of saving the Constitution. Perhaps if he set up one at this time it might split the Church asunder, and perhaps he does not want that to happen yet, for not all the wheat and tares are fully ripe.” (“Not Commanded in All Things.” Conference address April 5, 1965. Please, read the talk in full.). There are people I know, in whom the light of freedom burns so brightly, who will not be able to sit idly by watching the march toward tyranny. They may be part of that revolution.

I may live to see it. My children certainly will. People are talking about it.

I don’t like reading what I’ve written. Do I have it wrong? Is there a way to reverse the tide? Without blood? I wish. I hope. I pray. But not in faith.